Where was the whole "Optimus has grown ruthless since our last encounter". We never saw that in flying mind. All we saw was Prime giving a speech, get the spark extractor, and get owned. I thought when Megatron made that statement, we would've seen Optimus go all movie Prime on us, but sadly no.

What do you guys think? Was it an irrelevant statement, only used for promotional use?

 

It was because he thought he sent bulkhead to damage the decepticon ship on purpose

 

He seems to have a certain extra edge to him now, like something is pissing him off. I am looking forward how far it leads too....

 

He hurt Raf. Prime storms the Nemesis. Next they meet in Crossfire, Prime pulls a gun on him while he's down. Then he is under the impression that Prime sent Bulks to smash the Nemesis.

But lolnope, Fowler don't airstrike them, let's play freeze tag with a grenade. Tag, you're it Bumblebee!

 

Apparently you haven't noticed it this season. Ever since the duel at the end of season 1, Optimus has been out for Megatron's head. For example, when Megs was defenseless after the first insecticon fight Megatron asked if he would be taken alive or if he would be killed (or something along those lines). Optimus thought for a moment, then drew his gun pointing it at Megs head. Only Dreadwings arrival saved Megatron. Or Optimus deciding to use the Spark Extractor. That's something he would not have done if he were the same Optimus we saw at the beginning of the series.

Optimus has realized that Megatron will never change and if there is to be any hope of ending the Decepticon threat, Megatron must die.

And Megatron has realized this.

 

While Optimus is getting his act together on the ruthlessness part, he still has a long way to go: like Puck Hockey said, he could have had Fowler bomb the Nemesis to weaken it and distract the 'Cons, perhaps alongside a few Autobots on the ground, while Optimus or a human operations team sneaks in and deploys the Spark Extractor.

While Optimus did storm the Nemesis and he did pull a gun on the downed Megatron, he should have been doing stuff like that from the beginning. He did during Darkness Rising, but as of Masters and Students, he went in a complete 180, which was noticable in Masters and Students itself, Operation Breakdown, Rock Bottom, Stronger Faster, and a little in Crossfire. It gets old.

Edit: Now, I'm not saying that he hasn't improved on that front; as Ryoku pointed out, he's doing better. I'm just saying that at this point, this version of Optimus shouldn't need to learn this; she should know it by now. Animated Optimus, on the other hand, would have been a great candidate for this kind of development, because he was still developing as a leader. Orion Pax, without the memories, would also have worked. But not an Optimus who has been leading and fighting the war since its inception millennia ago.

 

Well one Optimus almost killed Megatron in the Unicron arc. Two Optimus was going to kill Megatron in Crossfire.

 

Prime's willingness to use an end-all relic such as the Spark Extractor only solidifies Megatron's point. If throwing yourself out into the open in order to hopefully kill all your enemies at one time with a weapon isn't ruthless, I dunno what is.

Plus timeline wise, we still have to realize that Optimus was THIS close to killing Megatron in Season 1 before the Dark Energon/Unicron kicked in. And Optimus was ready to blast his head off in Crossfire if it wasn't for Dreadwing's sense of honor

 

An airstrike would have been sufficient. The Vehicons would be too busy doing repairs to pursuit until it's too late and the sentient Nemesis wouldn't have done anything to them.

 

No, it was because Prime became more proactive about ending the war, and Megatron recognized he was about to be executed at the end of Crossfire if not for the timely intervention of Dreadwing. It connects back to the epiphany Prime had towards the end of season one, realizing Autobots and Decepticons were never going to change and that the war would continue forever as long as Megatron lived.

 

Megatron does have a point. While he probably misinterpreted Bulkhead's strike as intentional instead of the truth, Optimus has been more ruthless this past season. He may still be having internal struggles with his beliefs, but he probably does feel that Megatron does need to be destroyed in order to end the war and save not only what's left of their race, but of the human race as well.

 

Prime wanted Megatron dead. That'sb not how he rolled before.

 

It was probably in reference to Optimus pulling his guns on an unarmed and exhausted Megatron in Crossfire. You know that if Dreadwing and his army hadn't arrived, Optimus probably would've gotten the job done this time.

 

Too bad he's incredibly incompetant at getting the job done. At least he's dropping the beliefs bullshit.

 

Yeah, it's a big blast of hot air, typical of the show's dialogue. He's no more ruthless, he's not less, uh, ruthless. The only time Optimus was shown to be ruthless was in One Shall fall. It's never been seen again, however. He's the same overly cautious, wordy, self-righteous dummy he's always been.

You know what'd be awesome? If we saw that. If we had some kind of meaningful mention or had this explored instead of the fans once again having to flat out fabricate aspects of the characters and the plots to make up for the lack of them in the show.

Does he roll like that now? He still hesitated like a dumb lump in Crossfire.

He never mentions it. It's not an explored aspect. He hasn't changed his tone, his methods, anything. There's nothing to suggest that was anything more than a one-off bout of anger over the (presumed) loss of a human life.

 

that fact that he was gonna use the spark exstractor to wipe out all the cons

 

I dunno if he's incompetent or if Megatron can't be killed. If he were to kill Megatron we could very well not have a show anymore. Transformers has always mostly been about "Optimus vs. Megatron". I don't know how well a show would do without him.  

Although I wouldn't mind seeing Starscream getting command of the Decepticons back and watching that play out.

Anyway, other people have posted the things I thought of. Megatron is smart enough realize it too.

 

Given how Megatron almost killed Raf, and making use of the whole Orion Pax ordeal I'd say by that time Optimus took off the kid gloves and went hardcore nowadays. I mean if thinking of using the spark extractor's not a sign of him being more ruthless I don't know what is.

 

Well he's not a overpowering John Rambo killer......


......but he's still a boring socially awkward tool.

 

Oh right, he was gonna use that wasn't he?

Guess I missed it because he totally didn't change his vocal tone, body language, or act in any way different then how he always does. And of course nobody else acted any different either.

How are we, the audience, supposed to recognise his change if we can't see it in his character.